The Deepwater Horizon Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group approved the plan on Oct. 14. It selects construction alternatives for the East Orleans Landbridge project and the Raccoon Island project, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A Federal Register notice published the same day describes the projects as part of the long-running effort to repair natural-resource injuries from the 2010 oil spill. Environmental Protection Online reported the approval Oct. 15.
The approval is a planning milestone. It allows the trustees to move toward implementation, but the habitats have not yet been restored. The final designs set out what the projects are intended to build and how the work will be carried out.
At East Orleans Landbridge, the selected alternative would place sediment to restore marsh along a narrow strip separating Lake Pontchartrain from Lake Borgne and the Gulf. The federal notice says crews would use about 5 million cubic yards of material from a nearby inland borrow source and add about 14,867 feet of shoreline protection. NOAA says the marsh work is meant to compensate for harm to wetlands and coastal waters close to shore from the spill. The design covers a specific stretch and is not a promise to remove flood risk.
The Raccoon Island project focuses on a different kind of coastal landscape. The selected plan would use sand to rebuild beach, dune and marsh areas on the barrier island. The federal notice estimates up to 410 acres of barrier-island habitat. The selected alternative would use about 2.9 million cubic yards of sand from an offshore borrow area, maintain existing Gulf-side breakwaters, and build four bayside breakwaters and nine living-shoreline structures. Those features are planned alongside the beach, dune and marsh work. A living shoreline uses natural materials and vegetation, sometimes with low barriers, to soften wave impacts while keeping the coast connected to the water.
That mix of landforms matters to wildlife that uses the coast. NOAA says the Raccoon Island project is intended to create productive habitat for birds, fish and shellfish. The formal plan ties both projects to natural resources injured by the spill, rather than claiming that the work will erase every effect of the disaster.
The two selected alternatives carry estimated implementation costs of $109.4 million for East Orleans and $156.3 million for Raccoon Island. The Federal Register puts the combined estimate at about $265.7 million. NOAA describes the investment as approximately $265 million and says the projects together could restore up to 1,700 acres. The federal notice gives separate maximums of 1,320 and 410 acres, which add to 1,730; NOAA’s combined figure is a rounded summary, and actual acreage will depend on the work completed.
Before approval, the draft plan was open for public review for 30 days. The trustees accepted comments through June 17 and held a public webinar on June 8. NOAA reports that the group received 15 comment submissions and revised the final plan in response, including updates to costs and design figures and clarifications about monitoring at Raccoon Island.
The final plan compares design options before selecting one for each site. East Orleans will use Alternative 4; Raccoon Island will use Alternative 3. Those choices followed an earlier planning phase and a separate draft review, giving residents and other interested readers a chance to comment before the trustees settled on the preferred construction designs. The published notice records the formal decision and points readers to the complete plan and environmental assessment for the engineering details.
The formal notice identifies the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group as a partnership of state and federal agencies. It includes Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the state Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office and departments responsible for environmental quality, wildlife and fisheries, and natural resources, along with NOAA, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.
For nearby communities and wildlife, the decision is a concrete next step after months of planning and public review. It puts two selected designs on a path to implementation. The next measure of progress will be construction, followed by monitoring to see whether the new marsh, dunes and protective features support the habitats they are meant to restore.
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